Wednesday, December 3, 2008

It's the first day of Christmas and you get a partridge in a pear tart!

Have you had one of those days (months? years? lifetimes?) where you think:1. I'm going to the dentist on Monday at noon.2. I'm going to lunch with Sunshine on the 8th.And completely not make the connection that Monday is the 8th?!

Well, I thought I had til the 8th to post my pie for the monthly group "You Want Pie With That?" It turns out we post by the 3rd and then vote for our favorite by the 8th. Sigh.

Although I'm late in submitting (due at 3:14 EST - get it? Pi? 3.14??), I wanted to get my pie on! It's my birthday week (yes, I'm going to mention this until my actual birthday on Sunday) and I need to make pie (or tart)!

This month's theme was selected by Anne of Anne Strawberry (such a great blog!!) and it's Holiday Songs!

I mixed several recipes and ideas to come up with this pie inspired by the high-rotation song, "Twelve Days of Christmas."

I used Dorie Greenspan's Sweet Tart Pastry dough and popped it into the freezer for 20 minutes (remember, I was late in my post!)

Then I adapted Bon Appetit's recipe for Pear and Almond Tart to make the almond filling.Pulsed together:1/2 cup almond paste (I still have some leftover from making the pignoli cookies)1/4 c sugarThen pulsed:1/4 c flour1/2 stick of butterThen added:2 eggs1/2 t vanilla2 T sour cream (addition to recipe based on someone's comment)

And since real pears don't ripen in the 20 minutes, I used John's Pear and Almond-Cream Tart from Everyday Food's recipe and got a few cans of pears! I brushed a little melted butter on top of the pears before baking at 375 for 45 minutes.

And the best part? This is super darn tasty!! It has a strong almond flavor but it is also delicate and lovely. It is a great 4-days-before-my-birthday treat! (see, I can mention my birthday all week). I want to try it with real pears, apples, and my favorite Asian pears.

Be sure to check out the other "You Want Pies with That?" bakers! They are all super creative with this month's theme!

Can I tell you how gorgeous this turned out?? Wow! Great job! I have to know... did your tart pan have a removable bottom or were you just able to easily remove this from the pan? I had never owned a tart pan and I picked one up at the thrift store a few weeks ago. I decided to use it on Thanksgiving and then my recipe instructions said to use a tart pan with removable bottom. Hmm. So i ended up lining the entire thing with foil and lifting it out.